


Shower Scene 3.0

by quicksilversquared



Series: An Unfortunate Series of Showers [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien will never use the shower as an excuse again, Gen, also some very minor language, nudity mentioned but nothing even remotely explicit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-31
Updated: 2016-05-31
Packaged: 2018-07-11 11:29:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7047829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quicksilversquared/pseuds/quicksilversquared
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pretending that he was in the shower during akuma attacks was bound to catch up with Adrien eventually.</p>
<p>(aka Why Adrien Will Never Shower Again)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shower Scene 3.0

Gabriel Agreste had apparently decided to start off his day with a bit of yelling at a pyrotechnics technician (something had apparently gone wrong with the pyrotechnics at a fashion show; what exactly happened, Ladybug had no idea and did not particularly care). The Pyromaniac had then decided to go the route of exacting revenge on Mr. Agreste by blowing his home sky-high.

Mr. Agreste was out of danger, Ladybug knew that much. Nathalie had told her that Mr. Agreste was at his office and all of the staff members had evacuated the house as soon as they heard the news, but Adrien was still inside.

"I did call through his door, so maybe he left out his windows?" Nathalie suggested hopefully. She sent a worried look down the street, where the explosive, thundering footsteps of the Pyromaniac could be heard getting closer. "You can get him away, right? Thanks!" With that, she jumped in the car and it screamed away down the street. Clearly the Agreste staff had a lot of self-preservation, or maybe they just trusted Ladybug to get Adrien to safety.

Ladybug took a deep breath before swinging around to Adrien's side of the house. Her eyes skimmed the windows on the side of the house that she knew his room was on. All of them were closed.

All except one. A smaller window off to the side of all the other ones was open and Ladybug aimed for it, figuring that it would at least put her pretty close to Adrien's room so she wouldn't get lost in the large house. She took a running leap off of the mansion's surrounding wall, clearing the distance easily and grabbing hold of the top of the window frame to flip herself neatly into the room.

She recognized where she was right away, of course. It was Adrien's bathroom. And, like the other two times she had seen Adrien's bathroom, it was occupied.

Unlike the other two times, Ladybug had come in through a different entrance and had managed to land squarely in the shower area of the room.

Marinette had dealt with the first two "shower encounters" just fine, if by _just fine_ you meant that she panicked a bit at the time, she couldn't look Adrien in the eye for several days after each event, and had a couple meltdowns in front of Tikki until the kwami reminded her that she had only seen Adrien's head, not even his bare shoulders. But this? _This_ was significantly more than just Adrien's head.

She'd never be able to look Adrien in the face again. She might as well just pack up and go live in the remotest part of Canada, because she had definitely fucked up this time. Adrien would probably never want to speak to her again, never mind that it was _Ladybug_ that had barged into his shower, not Marinette.

In her defense, who the hell had a window (with a balcony) in their bathroom anyway? And even better question, why on earth would Adrien keep that window open? Surely his fancy bathroom would have an equally fancy ventilation system.

She had landed barely two meters away from a sopping wet and utterly naked Adrien Agreste. His head shot up as she landed with a light thud and for several long seconds they just stared at each other, eyes impossibly wide. This Adrien let out a surprised shriek, jumping backwards and trying to cover certain parts of his anatomy with his bottle of shampoo as he stumbled away. The water rushing down on him sent his bangs into his face (wow, his hair was really long when it wasn't brushed to the side), completely covering Adrien's face. It still wasn't quite enough to completely hide his blush, though, especially when the red flush traveled from his face, down his neck, and started spreading down his chest. Ladybug's eyes tracked it for a couple seconds before she stopped herself.

"W-what are you doing here?" Adrien squawked, finding his voice first. He didn't move his hands at all. "I- I mean, it's nice to see you and all, but, uh, now's not the best time!"

Ladybug swallowed, willing her eyes not to flick downward again. They did anyway. Adrien had a _really_ nice body. She wrenched her gaze back up to Adrien's face and tried to remember how to speak properly. She knew how to speak, she knew it. Finally she managed to find her words.

"There's a, uh, akuma. Outside. It's trying to blow your house up because it's ticked at your dad but he's not here. We kinda need to leave, like, now."

Adrien swallowed hard. Ladybug's eyes traced his throat as his Adam's apple bobbed up and down. "Oh. Um. Okay, but I need to get dressed really fast first."

"Of course!" Ladybug finally managed to spring into action, grabbing a fluffy white towel off the stack and turning off the shower before shoving the towel at Adrien's stomach, squeezing her eyes closed so she wouldn't see anything that she shouldn't be seeing.

* * *

Adrien's day had started normally. It was a weekend, so he got to sleep in until eight before getting up, getting dressed, brushing teeth, and eating breakfast. He did an hour of homework before going to his fencing practice. Two hours later he returned home, even sweatier than he usually was after fencing. The class had been intense, and the temperature was warmer than he was used to as spring weather gave way to summer.

Once Adrien got home, he wasted no time in shedding his damp clothes and hopping in the shower- after giving Plagg some cheese, of course. He showered quickly, scrubbing the sweat off and washing his hair. Adrien had only just rinsed the conditioner out of his hair when Ladybug landed in his bathroom with a light thud.

Adrien was fairly certain that he had never been more mortified in his life. He was standing in front of Ladybug, his crime-fighting partner and love of his life, without a single scrap of clothing on. Her eyes were almost impossibly wide as she stared at him. When Adrien finally came to his senses and _holy hell this is actually real it is panic time,_ he jumped backwards and scrabbled for something, _anything_ , to cover himself with. The stream of water washed his hair back over his eyes just as he grabbed his conditioner and covered himself with it.

At least he didn't have to look at Ladybug when his hair was like this. Maybe he could pretend that it was just a dream, abet a very, _very_ awkward dream.

(Normally when he dreamed about Ladybug, either he was wearing more clothes or she was wearing fewer and under _very_ different circumstances, but that was neither here nor there.)

"W-what are you doing here?" Adrien managed, hoping that everything important was covered. This was _mortifying_. "I- I mean, it's nice to see you and all, but, uh, now's not the best time!"

Ladybug stammered out an answer, and Adrien winced. _Akuma_. Of course. Adrien found himself cursing his dad just a little bit. No doubt Gabriel hadn't intended to put Adrien in danger (or for Ladybug to see him in the nude), but he really should know by now that keeping a handle on his explosive temper was important.

Adrien's eyes were still covered with hair when the water running over him suddenly stopped and a towel was shoved into his stomach. Adrien fumbled with it, trying not to let anything important show as he switched out the bottle for the towel. He tried (unsuccessfully) to shove his bangs out of his face with his shoulder as he kept a tight hold on the towel. As he struggled, he felt Ladybug's hesitant fingers on his face, pushing his sodden hair back out of his face.

As Ladybug pushed the last of Adrien's hair out of his face, he could feel his cheeks heating up again. His eyes blinked open to see Ladybug blushing as well. She had backed up so she wasn't in his personal space bubble anymore and her eyes were squeezed tightly closed. Adrien took the opportunity to unfold the towel quickly and wrap it more securely around his waist.

"I'll, uh, go grab some clean clothes," Adrien managed, his voice embarrassingly high and squeaky. He tried clearing his throat and ended up sounding like he was dying. Instead of trying to salvage his pride, Adrien simply turned and _bolted._

* * *

As soon as she heard Adrien leave the room, Ladybug opened her eyes again carefully. She could hear the thud of dresser drawers being opened and closed from the other room, so she carefully trained that out and looked outside to try to figure out where the Pyromaniac was. Not hearing anything, she flipped open her yo-yo to pull up the news.

What she saw was a live stream video of the Pyromaniac aiming what looked like a giant bazooka straight at the front of the Agreste Mansion.

_Fuck._

Praying that Adrien had managed to get at least a _little_ dressed, Ladybug bolted out of the bathroom and into Adrien's room. Adrien looked up, startled, dressed only in boxers (red, she noticed) and the towel slung around his neck.

_Well, it was better than wearing nothing._

"I'm not done getting dressed-" Adrien started, the flush immediately starting to appear again on his neck and chest. Ladybug resolutely ignored it. There were more important thing to worry about, like not getting both of them blown up.

"The house is about to get blown up. We are _leaving_." Without waiting for a protest, Ladybug picked Adrien up, kicked a window open, and threw her yo-yo. They took off without a warning, making Adrien yelp and cling to Ladybug tightly, wrapping his legs around her waist and his arms around her neck.

Two seconds later, the entire house exploded in a flash of multicolored light, flying debris only barely missing Ladybug and Adrien as they soared away. Ladybug swung them several buildings away, finally landing on the top of a tall building that would probably be safe for Adrien. If he was lucky, no one would see him up here until she returned after defeating the akuma.

"I'll come back up and get you after the akuma is defeated," Ladybug promised, pushing the words out as fast as she could while keeping her gaze fixed away from the half-dressed Adrien. "Just... stay up here." Before she could stutter (or get distracted by Adrien's abs), she flung her yo-yo and jumped, zipping away as fast as she could.

She had to things to get done.

* * *

Adrien wasn't sure what he wanted to stare at more: Ladybug's retreating back or the smoking remains of his house. He had forgotten to ask Ladybug if everyone else had gotten out safely.

Before he could stare too much, Plagg zipped out of the folds of the towel still wrapped around his shoulders. As soon as the kwami saw the coast was clear, he started _howling_ with laughter, nearly forgetting to float as he snorted and snickered.

"It's not _funny_ ," Adrien grumbled, trying not to sulk too much. He didn't succeed. "She saw me _naked_."

"How many times has she _thought_ she saw you naked before?" Plagg asked, still snickering. "Twice, because you keep pretending that your way of dealing with akuma attacks is to drown yourself in the shower? You really need to find some other way of responding to her showing up at your house, you know. She'll start thinking something is up if you're always in the shower."

"That was different. I wasn't _actually_ naked those times."

"She thought you were, though! It counts!"

"It does _not_." Adrien breathed out sharply through his nose, willing the redness still staining his face and chest to go away. "She would have found out that I had been lying eventually if we ever revealed ourselves to each other. But _now?_ How can I ever look her in the face again?" He groaned. "I should just move to Antarctica. Have you ever been to Antarctica, Plagg?"

"Head in the game, lover boy." Plagg cackled again, and Adrien just _knew_ he would never hear the end of this. "Don't you have a supervillain to stop?"

* * *

"I need to go," Ladybug said as soon as she and Chat Noir fist-bumped after the Pyromaniac was defeated. "I left Adrien stranded on top of a building and I need to go rescue him before my transformation wears off."

"Oh, I saw that," Chat spoke up quickly, seeing his opportunity. There was no _way_ he'd be able to get back to the tower before Ladybug without her seeing him, so it would be much better if he got Ladybug to let him "rescue" Adrien. Besides, he was pretty certain that he would die of embarrassment if he had to face his lady in his boxers again. "I can go get him, since I'm going in that direction anyway." When Ladybug looked a little doubtful, he added, "It might be less embarrassing for him if a guy goes and gets him if he's not entirely dressed."

"Oh, that's true," Ladybug agreed immediately, looking strangely... relieved. Maybe she had been just as embarrassed as he had been. "Do you have enough time left before your transformation runs out?"

Chat Noir nodded eagerly, hoping he didn't look too desperate even as his ring let out its second beep. "Yes, yes, of course, as long as I leave right away."

"That sounds good." Ladybug _definitely_ looked relieved. "Uh, if you end up not being able to get him in time, just call me before you detransform. Good luck!" With that, she was gone.

Chat Noir let out a huge sigh of relief.

* * *

"Bro, I heard about the craziness at your house this weekend!" Nino slid into his normal seat next to Adrien, grinning like crazy. "Man, you got to be saved by _Ladybug_! That's awesome!" Before Adrien could say anything, Nino's grin turned into an all-out smirk. "Nice Ladybug boxers, by the way. You two matched."

Adrien's face turned pink. Behind him, he could hear someone make a choking noise. Nino grinned at his reaction and waved his phone tauntingly, smirk growing wider. "Someone got pictures. Ladybug's got nice timing, eh? You guys barely got out of the house before it exploded."

" _I_ was wondering about the timing, actually." Alya's mischievous voice came from almost directly behind Adrien and he turned around to see her practically sitting on Marinette (who had her face buried in her arms for some reason) and leaning forward across the table so she was practically in his face. "You were only in your boxers and a towel and your hair looked like it was absolutely _sopping_ wet. Did a certain spotted superhero interrupt your shower, by any chance?"

The blush on Adrien's face told Alya everything she needed to know and she positively _howled_ with laughter as Nino chuckled along. Marinette's ears turned redder.

"You both suck," Adrien informed Alya and Nino, trying to hold onto the last shreds of his dignity. _Of course someone took pictures._ Hopefully his father would never find out. "Marinette's my favorite person right now, since she's not making fun of me."

Marinette's only response was a muffled squeak.

* * *

"I can't believe Adrien has _Ladybug_ boxers and I didn't even notice," Marinette groaned as soon as she got home and had shut her trapdoor behind her. She had spent the _entire day_ having to relive what she was calling The Shower Fiasco 3.0 because Nino and Alya had taken great joy in ribbing Adrien about it and trying to get him to divulge more details about what had happened. Marinette was pretty sure that she had never seen anyone stay so red for so long.

Of course, Adrien hadn't helped anything by trying to use her as a buffer between him and their friends. He had decided to interpret her red face and lack of questions as embarrassment on his behalf and had stayed near her all day, even going so far as to boot Alya out of her regular seat during two of their classes and pulling Marinette down to sit next to him during lunch. It hadn't helped, of course; Alya and Nino just leaned around Marinette to continue their teasing. It was only after Marinette had finally managed to find her voice again (sometime during their second-to-last class) and suggested to Alya that Adrien likely wasn't comfortable with the teasing that they finally backed off.

Tikki giggled, phasing out of Marinette's purse and coming to rest on the back of Marinette's head as the dark haired girl thumped her face into her pillow. "Well, you _did_ have other things to worry about and you were trying to keep your eyes in appropriate places."

"I still can't believe I caught Adrien in the shower _again._ Does he spend all of his time there? Maybe he's part merman," Marinette suggested somewhat frantically. "That would explain why I get all tongue-tied around him, if he has some sort of fishy magic-"

"I'm sure he's fully human, Marinette," Tikki sighed. "You didn't like him at first, remember? And then he was nice, and you liked him after that. There's nothing out of the ordinary about that." The quantic god spun around Marinette's head, trying to get the girl's attention. "I'm sure you'll recover soon enough. I mean, not every day is going to be like today, with Alya and Nino talking about it all day!"

"I'm still going to have to see Adrien every day," Marinette groaned, turning over and flinging her arm dramatically over her face. "And we had a partner assignment assigned in Literature today, and Adrien grabbed me so that he wouldn't end up paired with Alya or Nino, so we'll have to spend time together _alone_ \- and what'll I do if we go and work in his _room?_ "

Tikki giggled. "I'm starting to think Alya only spent so much time bugging Adrien today because it made him spend more time with you! You'll be fine, Marinette."

"Yeah, right." Marinette flopped back onto her rolling chair and stared at her wall blankly. "I'll never be able to look Adrien in the face again."

* * *

"I don't know how I'll ever be able to look Ladybug in the face again." Adrien let out a long sigh as he flopped facedown on his bed, totally exhausted and still a bit pink from being teased about his weekend adventures for the entire day. Nino and Alya had finally seemed to drop it near the end of the day (he suspected Marinette had something to do with it; he _really_ owed her now), but the guys in his fencing practice had had a field day.

"This wouldn't happen if you closed and locked your bathroom window like a normal person." Ever unhelpful, Plagg floated over to Adrien's desk to munch on his cheese. "But noooo, you left it wide open like you were _trying_ to attract Ladybug. You know, all of my _other_ chosens had a bit of common sense with their bathroom windows and they never had these problems."

"That would have been good to point out _before_ Ladybug came flying in."

"I'm not here to be helpful, kid."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm aware of that." Adrien sat up, automatically heading towards the bathroom to take a shower and clear his mind. He froze halfway there, suddenly realizing what he was doing. _Damn it._

Plagg was cackling from his desk, fully amused as Adrien rocked back on his heels on the threshold to the bathroom. "Don't forget to close the bathroom window this time! Or maybe you should leave it open and hang a sign on it- 'Come and visit, Ladybug!'!"

"Not helping, Plagg." Adrien turned away from the bathroom, ignoring his kwami's snickers. He pulled his iPod out and put in his earbuds, turning the music up to block Plagg out. He really didn't need to hear more of the teasing right now. Adrien knew that Plagg was unlikely to shut up anytime soon...unless they were out in public.

The only problem? It was rainy and already getting dark outside despite the relatively early hour. He briefly considered going to the library before he remembered that several of his fencing teammates had been talking about working on a project there.

_Projects_. That was it exactly! Adrien turned to his desk, searching for his phone so he could call Marinette. It wasn't too late for him to go over and start work on their project with her and if he did, Plagg wouldn't be able to tease him.

Smiling, Adrien pulled up the number Alya given him just after school and hit call.

* * *

Marinette was looking forward to a quiet evening of catching up on her homework, working on a couple designs, and doing her best to forget about the weekend's events. It had been impossible at school, where Adrien's head had been in her range of vision during every single class. Normally it was a pleasant sight, but now she could only think about how that hair had been plastered over Adrien's face and neck as he stood in the shower.

She had been doing a pretty good job with distracting herself until her phone rang. Marinette picked up absentmindedly, expecting to hear Alya's voice on the other end of the line. Instead, a familiar male voice met her.

"Hi, Marinette," Adrien said cheerfully, and Marinette's stomach dropped. Tikki giggled, watching as Marinette's face went almost horrified as her jaw went slack. "Are you free tonight? Do you want to start working on our project?"

Marinette only just stopped her head from hitting her desk. She knew that Adrien wasn't doing this on purpose, that he had no way of knowing that she was Ladybug and it was mortifying to be around him, but it didn't make it any easier. Drawing on every single well of strength she had, Marinette tried to keep her voice in a vaguely normal range as she answered.

"T-that sounds like a good idea. I-I'm free right now." Marinette managed. She opened her mouth to invite Adrien over- there was no way she would be able to forget about the whole shower fiasco (well, fiascos- she still couldn't believe it had happened _three. freaking. times._ ) if the bathroom was _right. there_. But Adrien beat her to it.

"You can come over here or I could have my driver bring me over there," Adrien said. He sounded slightly nervous about inviting himself over. "Whatever works best for you."

"Over here would be good," Marinette blurted as fast as she could. She swallowed, then tried to sound more normal. "We'll just have to make sure we're not too loud since my parents go to bed so early."

"Right, of course." A pause. "Are you certain your parents won't mind? I don't want to impose."

"Alya's been over pretty late before. They'll be fine. It's not even that late right now, so they'll still be up." Marinette's desperation to avoid Adrien's house let her power through what might have at one point been a difficult conversation. Granted, conversation had been flowing a lot more smoothly since her gaming competition and her great-uncle's visit, but she had been certain that the Shower Incident Part 3 would put them back on square one.

"Okay! I'll be over soon!"

Marinette groaned as she disconnected the call and flopped back on her bed, unbelieving that her luck could be so awful. "The world hates me."

Tikki giggled. "No it doesn't."

"I will. And mom and dad are just going to make it worse by sticking their head is all the time and cooing at us like they did last time." Sighing, Marinette pushed herself to her feet so she could go talk to her parents, resigning herself to her fate of death by embarrassment.

Adrien could never find out that she was Ladybug. _Never._


End file.
